Leadership and Emotional Intelligence - Dissertation Example

? Leadership and Emotional Intelligence Impact of emotional intelligence on effective leadership practices A study of the available literature showed a significant lack in research work interlinking the notions of emotional intelligence and its role in the effective functioning of a senior educational administrator. There are also very few research works that integrate issues of higher educational administration with the theories of emotional intelligence. Even though some researchers cite the necessity of being able to comprehend and control emotions as an educator, the significant lack of research work that seek to coalesce the field of emotional intelligence and the role of educational administrator within higher education, implies a gap in the existing research work on the subject of emotional intelligence (Dannells, 1997). The literature review primarily encompasses the studies made that connect emotional intelligence, effective leadership, and effective administrative leadership (Senior Research Assistants) within the constructs of a higher education management. Peter Salovey and John Mayer in their definition of emotional intelligence states that it is “a form of intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions” (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). One of the most common forms of research studies are based on connecting the aspects of emotional intelligence (as defined by Salovey & Mayer) with that of effective leadership. The literature on the leadership quotient has a remarkable number of theories that create a framework on the characteristics that define an effective leader, of which the two most distinct forms of leadership traits are, transactional and transformational (Mandell & Pherwani, 2003). In a transactional leadership, performance forms the main basis for rewarding or disciplining an employee. Emphasis is placed on timely completion of work, quality of work, and compliance with the company’s norms and values, while trying to affect an employee’s performance organizational punishments and incentives (Bass & Avolio, 1994). On the other hand transformational leadership functions through the notions of motivating and stimulating the co-workers, in order to create a completely different perspective on the organizational objectives, foster an atmosphere where the employees are motivated to achieve higher levels of capability, while inspiring the employees to put team interests before personal interests. Thus, transformational leadership functions of four basic pillars: intellectual incentive, edified influence, inspirational motivation, and consideration for each individual employee (ibid). From the conducted literature review it is evident that from that various studies on the results of effective leadership it is seen that the transformational form of leadership achieves better performance as a team (Keller, 1995), greater effectiveness and reparation (Hater & Bass, 1988), and better efforts from the junior employees (Seltzer & Bass, 1990). In this context, the researchers have also contended that to achieve effective form of leadership with positive outcomes for the entire organization, the aspect of transformational leadership must be combined with emotional and social forms of intelligence (Mandell and Pherwani, 2003). This is essential, as emotional and social intelligence are two basic elements considered important for forging strong employee- management relationships and motivating employees to use their optimal level of capability. Various studies conducting comparative analyses on transformational leadership and emotional intelligence have derived positive interlinks between the two aspects, thus showing a necessary amalgamation of the two, in order to obtain the best optimum results. Mandell and Pherwani (2003) in their experiments on emotional intelligence and transformational conducted on organisational leaders, found that at individual levels the transformational leadership style was closely related to the emotional intelligence (as per the Bar-On Emotion Quotient Inventory measurement), where the R = .50 (ibid). Daniel Goleman, in his research papers opine that leaders with a high quotient of emotional intelligence are the necessary for achieving success for any organization. The leaders must empathize with the employees; comprehend their feelings on the work environment; assist whenever there are any problems; must be capable of controlling their own emotions; and apprehend the socio-political norms functioning within the organization (Goleman, 2001). Furthermore, the leader must affect the performance levels of an organization by creating certain of kind work environment (using the emotional and social intelligence dimensions), best suited for that particular work type. Thus, from the above discourse it is quite evident that emotional intelligence and emotional intelligence are two closely related factors that must work in close cooperation, in order to obtain the best possible outcome. 2 Leadership in the context of higher education administration There are various theories that discuss leadership values in the context of higher education administration. Schmoker (1999) in his research paper suggests that within the context of higher education management, the person in-charge must possess a sharp focus on the obtained results and the available data, to elevate further the overall college/university achievement. Cherniss (1998) in his paper outlines certain traits that can be considered essential for achieving effective leadership within the arena of educational management: ability to control one’s emotions, ability to sense or comprehend the students’ emotions and use this understanding to motivate and stimulate the students, initiative, self-confidence, result oriented, and the capability to forge positive relationships with the students and various external factors. Thus, we find the desirable traits of an educational leader as outlined by Cherniss are in the same lines with the definition of emotional intelligence as given by Salovey & Mayer, showing the close connection between the two. Furthermore, we find that Catano and Stronge laying stress on emotional and social intelligence in their statement where they claim that educational leaders must necessarily be strong in “instructional leadership, organizational management, and community relations” (2006, 221). The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (Council of Chief State School Officers, 1996) in the context of effective educational leadership, emphasizes on the importance of students and staff development, and the of forging positive relationships with students’ families and communities, and other external factors, in order to optimize students’ success, thus again lying stress on both the aspects of emotional and social intelligence. Marzano, Waters, and McNulty, in their researches that covered 35 years of studies of various data on students and educational administrators, concluded, that “a highly effective [educator] can have a dramatic influence on the overall academic achievement of students” (2005, 10). Peter Drucker (1999) in his article states that to become an effective leader one must comprehend one’s own strengths and weaknesses, consistently control and evolve, understand colleagues’ strengths and weaknesses, and taking the initiative of maintaining a positive relationship with the co-workers. Here Drucker’s thoughts and beliefs on effective leadership are in line with the disciplines of emotional intelligence: self-management; self-awareness, relationship management, and a general social awareness (Goleman, 2001). In this context it can be assumed that the aforementioned traits of leadership as outlined by Drucker is also applicable in the arena of higher educational administrative issues, where one must be able to intelligently judge the students’ capabilities, in order to lead them towards achieving their best possible outcome. In the context of higher education the position of a Senior Research Administrator is of great importance. An individual in this position must be capable of identifying all the desired goals and objectives for any particular branch of study, before allowing a student to actually start research work in it (Abbott, 1988). The research assistant must necessarily apply significant efforts into identifying the most suitable research aims and objectives for a student and for this, he/she must comprehend the mental processes of any particular student, identify his capabilities, and judge whether the student would be able to perform well in his chosen subject. For this, the senior research assistant must use the various aspects as perceived within emotional intelligence, to comprehend and analyse the emotional and mental capacities of a student to allow research work to be conducted on the chosen topic. Furthermore, the research assistant with the help of research administrator must also manage the financial aspects of the research projects, where he must develop skills to ‘sell’ the projects, in order to earn grants and scholarships. Thus, research administrators (RA) play a significant role in the administration of various research projects and their respective funding. The research administrator must develop skills that facilitate in the administration of many projects all at one time, which may translate into dealing with more than a million dollar worth funding; complex grants; and the contracts and agreements within the approved grants. Thus, we find that the work of a research administrator is extremely important within the realms of any higher education. However, a look at the literature review indicates that very little studies have been conducted on the work profile of a senior research assistant and there are no evidences of any experimental research work that connects it with emotional intelligence. We have already seen that emotional intelligence is an important concept within the realms of leadership development. Senior Research assistants generally face various difficult issues within the scope of their daily work processes, like meeting deadlines, complying with the regulations and norms, budgetary issues and restraints (Abbott, 1988). Besides these, they must also cope with consistently changing and varying requirements of the students. The Senior Research assistants, thus, must display all aspects of an effective leader to handle the various complex issues of administrative and financial management, while must also be able to sense the underlying mental processes in order to help the students choose the best possible research subject for conducting further research into the area. Therefore, undoubtedly it is essential that a senior research assistant integrate leadership values and emotional intelligence, in order to cope with the daily challenges that this position offers. The senior research assistant must be knowledgeable about the institutional policies and guidelines, presently followed accounting standards, governmental guidelines on higher studies and research, and along with various legal provisions followed for the higher educational system (ibid). Thus, it is necessary that the research assistants not only have the necessary competencies and knowledge required for managing administrative functions and research funds, but also possess emotional intelligence to handle both the students and the grant-givers. They must make optimal use of their knowledge, leadership skills, and emotional intelligence to implement the strategies, judge relevant ethical principles, and offer clear guidelines on the relevant financial policies to assist in procuring grants for the different research projects. Thus, we find that the Senior Research Assistants must make use of his leadership skills and emotional intelligence, to handle effectively the administrative system on one hand, and the projects on behalf of the students where they must decide which is the best suitable topic for each individual student, while arranging for grants and scholarships for the various approved projects. It is as Aristotle had once commented, on the right use of one’s own skills and emotions, “Those who possess the rare skill to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way are at an advantage in any domain of life” (cited in, Langley, 2000, 177). Salovey & Mayer in their definition of emotional intelligence had described basic four aspects: comprehending and analyzing one’s own emotions (self-awareness); appropriately managing and controlling one’s own emotions(self-control); learning from the various emotional experiences; and seeing and evaluating various emotions (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). A senior research assistant must possess the attributes of self-control and self-awareness, in order to handle effectively, student affairs. He/she must understand the importance of the emotional domain, for the overall well-being and development of a student, while also handling the financial and administrative aspects. In this context, Delworth and Hanson opines, “knowing and understanding one’s own inner life of feelings and personal meanings as well as the effect it has on others is an important quality for those practicing from a counseling model” (1989, 272). They further affirm in their paper that that a counselor handling student affairs must emphasize on “the feelings and personal meanings [that the] students convey through their conversations and behavior” (ibid). This leads to the formation of a conceptual framework where we find that the students’ emotions and the interpretation by the research assistant, form the standard basic element during the latter’s interactive sessions with the students. The judicious and intelligent use of emotions, being able to comprehend others’ emotions, and while controlling one’s own emotions, are critical aspects of dealing with all students, especially the students pursuing higher studies. Delworth and Hanson suggest that appropriately “attending to a student’s emotional concerns can increase the student’s ability to enjoy and succeed in academic work” (ibid, 271), and with this, the authors take into account the dimensions of feelings and emotions within the study of emotional intelligence, and connects them with the role of a senior research assistant. Thus, we find that an individual assaying the role of a research administrator must possess high levels of leadership skills and emotional intelligence to achieve success in his role. 3 Effects of high levels of Emotional Intelligence Researches on the better outcome of the domain of E.I., over I.Q. were initiated with Goleman's article on the issue, which suggested that emotional intelligence is “as powerful, and at times more powerful, than I.Q.” (Goleman, 1995, 34). While various research results support that the fact that emotional intelligence as being more important than I.Q. and emotional intelligence contribute positively towards cognitive-based work achievements, than results obtained solely owing to the level of general intelligence (Lam & Kirby, 2002), the present theories suggest that emotional intelligence solely by itself cannot be held as an indicator of work achievements. Emotional intelligence, however works towards providing a basis for developing competencies related to managing and controlling emotions and understanding the emotional processes of the co-workers, which in turn are strong predictors of work related performance (Goleman, 1998; Salovey & Mayer, 1990), thus, showing the importance of possessing high levels of emotional intelligence in achieving the desired work outcome. The above literature review suggests that there is a strong connection between high levels of emotional intelligence, effective leadership, and the senior educational administrator’s role in guiding the high school or college students and helping them to achieve the best possible outcome based on their mental processes, emotional quotient and competencies. The Senior Educational Administrator (research assistant) must be given effective training in order to develop self-awareness and self-control (two important dimensions associated with emotional intelligence). This would in turn help him/her handle the financial and administrative duties better, while developing on the factors of emotional intelligence, so that he/she can understand and analyze the students mental processes, comprehend their underlying emotions, and guide them towards achieving better results, thus, achieving positive results in the overall outcome. References Abbott, A. (1988). The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Bass, B., and Avolio, B. (1994). Improving Organizational Effectiveness through Transformational Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Catano, N., and Stronge, J. (2006). What are principals expected to do? Congruence between principal evaluation and performance standards. NASSP Bulletin, 90 (3), 221-238. Cherniss, C. (1998). Social and emotional learning for leaders. Educational Leadership, 55(7), 26-29. Council of Chief State School Officers (1996). Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium: standards for school leaders, 5-21. Washington D.C. Dannells, M. (1997). From discipline to development: Rethinking student conduct in higher education. Washington, DC: Eric Clearinghouse on Higher Education Washington DC, ERIC Document Reproduction Service number ED 408 919; Report number BBB32577. Delworth, U., and Hanson, G. (1989). Student services: A handbook for the profession. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Drucker, P. (1999). Managing oneself. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://academy.clevelandclinic.org/Portals/40/managingoneself.pdf Goleman, D. (2001). “Emotional intelligence: Issues in paradigm building.” In C. Cherniss and D. Goleman (Eds.), The Emotionally Intelligence Workplace. San Francisco: JosseyBass. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Publishers. Hater, J., and Bass, B. (1988). Superior’s evaluations and subordinates’ perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73 (4), 695-702. Keller, R. (1995). Transformational leaders make a difference. Journal of Research and Technology Management, 38, 41-44. Lam, L., & Kirby, S. (2002). Is emotional intelligence an advantage? An exploration of the impact of emotional and general intelligence on individual performance. The Journal of Social Psychology, 142(1), 133-143. Langley, A. (2000). Emotional intelligence - a new evaluation for management development? Career Development International, Volume 5, No. 3, pp. 177-183. Mandell, B., and Pherwani, S. (2003). Relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership style: A gender comparison. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17(3), 387-404. Marzano, R., Waters, T., and McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works: from research to results. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Schmoker, M. (1999). Results: the key to continuous improvement. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Seltzer, J. and Bass, B. (1990). Transformational leadership: Beyond initiation and consideration. Journal of Management, 16, 693-703. Stoner, E. (1998). A model code for student discipline. In, B.G. Paterson & W.L. Kibler (Eds.), The administration of campus discipline: student, organizational and community issues. Ashville, NC: College Administration Publications, Inc., 3-42. Read More